Bianchi Renzo, Schonfeld Irvin Sam
Institute of Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Department of Psychology, The City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY, United States.
Front Psychol. 2021 Sep 20;12:695539. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.695539. eCollection 2021.
The Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) was recently developed to assess depressive symptoms that individuals specifically attribute to their work. Research on the criterion validity of the instrument is still in its infancy. In this study, we examined whether the ODI predicted performance on, and appreciation of, a cognitively challenging test. In light of the link established between clinical depression and neuropsychological impairment, and considering that individuals with depressive symptoms are more likely to feel helpless under challenging circumstances, we hypothesized that occupational depression would be associated with poorer cognitive performance and a darkened appreciation of the task undertaken. We relied on a sample of 1,359 educational staff members. We used an abridged version of Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPMs) as a cognitively challenging task and measure of cognitive performance. RAPMs assess so-called eductive ability (meaning-making and problem-solving abilities) through items of various degrees of difficulty. Transient mood was assessed with a three-item measure before RAPMs were administered. Task appreciation was assessed with a single-item measure after the completion of RAPMs. We found occupational depression to be negatively linked to cognitive performance. A two-step cluster analysis, in which ODI and RAPMs scores were used as classifiers, revealed two profiles of respondents. The first profile was characterized by relatively low levels of depressive symptoms and high levels of cognitive performance; the second profile, by relatively high levels of depressive symptoms and low levels of cognitive performance. The two profiles differed strongly from one another, as indexed by Cohen's s of 2.492 regarding depressive symptoms and 1.263 regarding cognitive performance. As anticipated, occupational depression predicted a darkened appreciation of the test. The association remained statistically significant, and largely unchanged, controlling for pretest mood and test performance. The highest levels of depressive symptoms were observed among individuals evaluating the task as "frustrating" and "discouraging." Our study suggests that occupational depression predicts poorer cognitive performance and a negativized experience of cognitive challenge. Such features may be part of a self-sustaining loop fostering the maintenance of depressive symptoms. The extent to which the ODI predicts performance in the work context needs to be investigated.
职业抑郁量表（ODI）最近被开发出来，用于评估个体明确归因于工作的抑郁症状。对该工具的效标效度的研究仍处于起步阶段。在本研究中，我们考察了ODI是否能预测在一项认知挑战性测试中的表现以及对该测试的评价。鉴于临床抑郁症与神经心理损伤之间已建立的联系，并且考虑到有抑郁症状的个体在具有挑战性的情况下更有可能感到无助，我们假设职业抑郁会与较差的认知表现以及对所承担任务的负面评价相关。我们选取了1359名教育工作人员作为样本。我们使用瑞文高级渐进矩阵（RAPMs）的简版作为一项认知挑战性任务和认知表现的测量工具。RAPMs通过不同难度程度的项目来评估所谓的归纳能力（理解和解决问题的能力）。在进行RAPMs测试之前，用一个三项量表来评估短暂情绪。在完成RAPMs测试后，用一个单项量表来评估对任务的评价。我们发现职业抑郁与认知表现呈负相关。一项两步聚类分析中，将ODI和RAPMs得分用作分类指标时，揭示了两类受访者。第一类的特征是抑郁症状水平相对较低且认知表现水平较高；第二类的特征是抑郁症状水平相对较高且认知表现水平较低。这两类在抑郁症状方面的科恩d值为2.492，在认知表现方面的科恩d值为1.263，二者差异显著。正如预期的那样，职业抑郁预示着对测试的负面评价。在控制了测试前情绪和测试表现后，这种关联在统计上仍然显著且基本不变。在将任务评价为“令人沮丧”和“气馁”的个体中，观察到了最高水平的抑郁症状。我们的研究表明，职业抑郁预示着较差的认知表现以及对认知挑战的负面体验。这些特征可能是促进抑郁症状维持的自我维持循环的一部分。ODI在工作环境中预测表现的程度还有待研究。
